(1) Field of the Invention
The field of the invention is related to protective guards. In particular, a protective guard used on the perimeter of items that are exposed to extreme and/or high temperatures which prevent injury from high temperatures and to preserve the integrity of the said items.
(2) Description of Related Art
In consumer and commercial applications, a variety of plates, dishes, trays, pots, pans and bake ware are used to cook and serve food every day. Because of the nature of cooking, many of these items are subjected to extreme and/or high temperatures, hot or cold, during the cooking process. In addition, it is common for plates and dishes to be heated or have the food cooked in and on the same plate or dish that the food will be consumed from in order to have the food retain heat longer, improving the enjoyment and/or quality of the food.
In view of the above exposure to kitchen and cook ware being exposed to extreme and/or high temperatures, it is quite common place for injuries to occur arising from the exposure of users to these types of items. For example, many people have experienced the pain of burning themselves as a result of accidentally touching a heated cookware or inadvertently touching a hot plate at a restaurant. Chefs and servers commonly burn themselves in kitchens as they work with and maneuver around cook ware that have been subjected to extreme and/or high temperatures. Children, often burn themselves accidentally when accidentally coming into contact with these extreme and/or high temperature based cookware. A majority of these injuries result from the user touching the rim, edge and/or perimeter of the items that have been exposed to extreme and/or high temperatures without proper protection.
Injuries caused by exposure to extreme and/or high temperature items are not limited to just kitchen and cook ware but can also be found in any scenario when the rim, edge or side of a surface area has been exposed to extreme and/or high temperature. For example, many people are the unfortunate victim of being burned by the edge, rim and/or perimeter of an iron or oven and baking racks that have been exposed when a user is attempting to remove a food item.
In attempting to protect users against injury resulting from exposure to items, especially edges, rims and sides of times, that have been exposed to extreme and/or high temperatures, many forms of gloves, mitts, and grippers/holders have been created to be worn or used when coming into contact with these items. However, these types of protection are not ideal because these protective items are often misplaced, lost, or forgotten to be worn. In addition, these solutions only provide temporary protection and do not address protecting against injury when these protective devices are not used or worn.
Thus, there is still a need for a device which provides a more permanent and easier solution to protect people from injuries resulting from items that have been exposed to extreme and/or high temperatures, including kitchen and cook ware items such as plates, dishes, pots, pans, trays and other surfaces such as oven/bake racks and irons.